A colleague last week had a reporting problem. He had never filed a Freedom of Information request and he knew he needed to do so to get info for a story he was working on. But he didn’t know where to begin.

I offered my advice and then I added, ‘why don’t you come to the Freedom of Information workshop on the March 17.’

Let me say that again. Why don’t you come to the workshop on March 17.

It will be held from noon to 2 pm at ITT Chicago-Kent College of Law, 565 W. Adams, room 580.

Speakers will be Maryam Judar, an attorney with the Citizen Advocacy Center, Natalie Brower Potts, head of the Center for Open Government at the Law School – the only one of its kind in the nation – and reporter Angela Caputo of the Chicago Reporter. The headline is sponsored by the Chicago Headline Club.

They will walk us through the basics of getting information and then standing up for our rights to get information when we run into obstacles. They will also talk about how we can make sure we have access to meetings that we need to report on.

Why is this important?

It’s key to doing our work.

I’m sure there are times you don’t have the resources or help to do the reporting you want to do. I’m sure there are times when you think you can make a difference with a story that tells more – a story that has information that is not available.

Well, here’s the chance to learn how to get that information and a chance to hear how others do it.